1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to safety equipment for the sport of archery.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sport of archery has undergone unprecedented growth over the last decade. The advent of compound bows, bow sights and automatic release mechanism enabled archers to substantially increase their accuracy for any given skill level. In addition, more areas of the country, due to ever expanding population pressures, are being removed from permissible rifle hunting regions. Coupled with a desire to engage in a more challenging and sporting activity as well as longer season for bow than firearms has resulted in bow hunting to increase exponentially.
A hunter using a bow and arrow must be substantially closer to the target prey, for example, a deer, than is necessary for a hunter using a firearm. Inherently, this requires greater skill and abilities beyond just being proficient with the weapon. Typically, a bow hunter will dress in a camouflage clothing to avoid detection by the animal being hunted. Since bow hunters must be within 60 feet of their prey, preferably not more than 100 feet, and having a clear unobstructed view, there is much less danger of mistaking another hunter as the hunted animal as is found using firearms.
Additionally, the hunter must patiently wait for extended periods of time, hiding, waiting in a "blind" for the intended prey to happen by. Often, the hunter will attach a removable platform to a tree which serves as place to wait for a deer to move into range.
Regardless of the place selected, the hunter preferably should have his/her arrow in the bow ready to shoot. Regardless of whether the bow is the compound type or the traditional recurved bow, the "at ready" situation is essentially the same. The hunting arrow has a tip having two or more razor sharp blades to ensure deep penetration of the arrow within the animal so that the animal is quickly and humanely killed with a single shot. Bows suitable for hunting have draw weights of at least 50 pounds. Draw weight is defined as the pull, measured in pounds, that is required to pull the bow string back to the bow recommended length of draw. To enable the fired arrow to achieve even greater velocity for the bow's draw weight, frequently, hunters will use a device called an "overdraw". The overdraw attaches to the bow adjacent to the handle in the bow's sight window and enables shorter arrows to be used. The short arrow, having less mass, will achieve a greater velocity when fired, thus producing a greater stopping power for hunting. The arrow is "at ready" within the bow when it is "nocked" that is, the plastic end of the arrow is releasably held by the bow string at the string's nocking point. The shaft of the arrow is supported by an arrow rest. The arrow rest is generally attached to the bow in the sight window, however, if using an overdraw, the rest is attached there, frequently, a part of the overdraw apparatus. The arrow is held on the rest merely by the force of gravity and the extremely slight frictional force existing between the small profile rest and the portion of the shaft resting thereon. Thus, a slight bumping of the arrow, or movement of the bow from a substantially vertical position can cause the arrow to fall off the rest. However, the stability of the arrow on its rest cannot be improved by requiring an increase in the amount of force required to cause the arrow to fall off the rest. To do so, would detrimentally interfere with the accuracy and performance of the arrow.
When the hunter sees an animal come into his/her range of fire, the bow is aimed by drawing the string back, with the arrow still in position described above, while sighting with the bow sight on the animal. Once the bow is fully extended, the sight is placed in "kill zone" on the animal, the string is released, causing the arrow to fire and, hopefully, strike its intended target. Note, however, the hunter does not watch the position of the arrow during the aiming or firing procedure. If the arrow should happen to slip off the rest during or immediately prior to the aiming procedure, it is extremely likely that the arrow will be launched in that out of position condition.
This situation happened to the inventor, causing the arrow to break, with one portion hitting the inventor in the face, narrowly missing an eye, and the other portion striking the deer in a non-vital spot. Despite extensive tracking, the injured animal was not found.
This tragic accident caused the inventor to recognize the need for an arrow safety positioning apparatus.
While arrow positioning devices are currently available, they have not obtained universal acceptance in that present devices require action on the part of the hunter to effect release. Since absolute concentration is required of the hunter to sight his bow and release the arrow on a straight and accurate flight, the additional requirement of also remembering to push an arrow positioning device out of the way is burdensome.
A ramp-type rest having two retaining arms to hold the arrow in place is being manufactured and sold by Browning under the trademark ULTIMATE. This device is said to be suitable for installation in any bow or for use with the Browning overdraw-type apparatus. While this device will hold an arrow in place against horizontal forces, the fletching of the released arrow slams against the arms, potentially damaging the fletching and interfering with the flight of the arrow.
An arrow support safety mechanism, adaptable for all bows, including bows fitted with overdraw devices, that is released as a normal consequence of the aiming procedure, does not touch the arrow except to briefly reposition if the arrow moves on its rests, and does not interfere with the flight of the arrow is not found in the prior art.